Under the Fluttering Beats of Summer
by SilverSharpie3
Summary: In the sleepy town of Lima, Ohio, summer of 1999, one bad-ass boy comes in and shakes things up... Nine summers later, he's back. Loosely based off of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird


A/n: This is a new Puckleberry fic I've decided to write. Before reading, I will make a couple disclaimers.

1. I don't own Glee or _To Kill a Mockingbird_

2. There will most definitely be spoilers for both Glee and _To Kill a Mockingbird _in this story. (I'm not sure up to which episode I'm going to have spoilers for as far as Glee is concerned but spoilers for _To Kill a Mockingbird_ basically include the first 7 chapters and some sub-sub-plot spoilers for how Dill and Scout work out.)

3. Teen rating – I'm going to make this teen because for now, I'm not putting any explicit stuff in here, and I think if you're old enough to watch Glee and endure the swearing and the sexy scenes, then you can most definitely read this

That's it for now basically as far as disclaimers go.

I basically wrote this story out of love for Glee and my annoyance for the fact that (!Spoiler!) Dill and Scout did NOT become a couple :( It is loosely based off the first couple of chapters in _To Kill a Mockingbird_ and it is set in Lima, Ohio, sort of an equivalent small, boring town, to Maycomb. Puck is loosely based off Dill's character plot=line for those first chapters, and Rachel is based loosely off Scout's interactions with Dill.

Code:

_Italics – _Rachel writing her memoir

Regular – Memories told from 3rd person narrator

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**Prologue**

_If my memory served me correct, it was the summer before kindergarten when everything started. I was only five then, the youngest on our block, but I was by far the most talented. My best friend back then was, surprisingly the ice queen herself, Quinn Fabray. Because of her, I met him._

**June 29, 1999**

Five-year old Rachel Berry and just-turned-six years old Quinn Fabray were giggling joyfully as they skipped across the open field, merrily picking flowers. Quinn, with her sunny blond hair and bright pink dress flapping in the wind, stood out like a precious rose in a bouquet of wildflowers. Rachel, on the other hand, stood out in another way with her endless dancing and happy singing. The presence of them both was just too much for little Noah Puckerman to ignore.

"Whaz your name?" he asked from the deserted street, where he perched on the edge of his bike like a real gang biker.

"Quinn Alice Fabray," Quinn replied immediately. She gave him a little curtsey with her dress. Puck snickered. Even then, he knew he was a total ladies man.

Rachel saw his snickering smirk and decided to continue singing and dancing to her own renditions of Broadway show-tunes.

"Who's she?" Puck asked Quinn, noticing her blue eyes were transfixed on his own hazel ones.

"Rachel Caroline Berry," Quinn replied politely.

Rachel whipped around at the sound of her name. She took a moment to process it before glaring at Quinn. "Why are you giving my name out to random strangers?" she asked, her speech crisp and articulated from constant singing practice. It was distinctly different from the other speech patterns that Lima produced.

"If it helps with the whole 'random strangers' thing, my name is Puck. I'm from Westvale, Indiana and I'm visiting my aunt for the summer. Ma figured it was better than sending me to reform camp over the summer."

Rachel looked at him apprehensively. "What's your real name?" she inquired.

"Puck."

She huffed. "I doubt your parents actually named you 'Puck,'" she said indignantly, putting air quotes around the vile name.

"Just call me Puck," he said through gritted teeth.

Rachel huffed at his refusal to use his real name and turned around to continue picking flowers while humming Barbara Streisand. Puck looked at her with amusement while Quinn simply rolled her eyes.

"Ignore her," she said flatly.

"I find her interesting," Puck mused. "Odd, but amusing."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Can I see your bike?" she asked sweetly.

Puck, ever the womanizer, even at six, looped his arm in hers and walked to his bike with her.

Rachel, on the other hand, was still merrily skipping around, choosing to ignore the scene going on behind her.

:::

The summer was spent in a similar fashion to the day before. Quinn would meet Puck by the field at precisely 10:30 AM, and she would drag Rachel along with her. While they were waiting, Rachel would skip and sing and dance until Quinn made her shut up, only to have her start again three minutes later. Once Puck got there, they would head over to the nearby playground where they went their separate ways for the time being. Rachel went off to play with Tina or Mercedes, while Puck and Quinn would hang out with Finn, Santana, and Brittany. They were the rich kids on the playground, and Quinn was attracted to that. Puck just wanted to hang out with a dude. Then, at twelve, they would head home to eat and return to the playground at one. From there, they would spend the rest of the time up until five in the afternoon playing. Rachel, Tina, and Mercedes spent most of the time singing and reenacting Broadway musicals. Occasionally, Kurt Hummel would join them when his dad was too busy working to supervise his playtime.

On the last day of summer, before Puck had to go back to Westvale, he majestically walked up to the bottom of the jungle gym where Rachel was sitting with Kurt, Mercedes, and Tina watching the sunset, and swooped down on one knee.

"Rachel Berry, will you marry me? You are mine and you are the only girl I've ever loved! Please say yes!" he cried dramatically before getting back up and walking away.

Rachel sat there, stunned, but brushed it off a couple seconds later. "You're only six!" she called out, still unsure of what his real name was. "I doubt you would've had many chances at love anyways!"

Tina, Mercedes, and Kurt laughed. Then they all shared a look before breaking out into song and dance.

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A/n: Like it? Hate it? It's Quick right now, but I _promise _this is Puckleberry. This is just the prologue. Other chapters will definitely be longer!

Review! :)

If you would be so kind, please check out my other Puckleberry story and review. I'd really appreciate it :)


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